ADEN: Yemen'ssouthern separatists took control of all government military camps in Adenyesterday, officials said, after four days of clashes between nominal allieswho have turned on each other, complicating UN efforts to end the four-yearwar. The separatists also surrounded the all-but empty presidential palace ofthe internationally recognized government that is temporarily based in the portcity, a government official and another local official told Reuters.
At least eightcivilians were killed on Friday in fighting between the separatists andgovernment forces, according to medical sources. Fighting resumed earlyyesterday but has since abated, residents said. The combatants are both part ofthe Saudi-led pro-government coalition that has been battling the Iran-alignedarmed Houthi movement in Yemen since March 2015, indicating a rift within thealliance. The war has killed tens of thousands and pushed the poorest ArabianPeninsula nation to the brink of famine.
"It is allover, the (Southern Transitional Council) forces are in control of all themilitary camps," an official in President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi'sgovernment told Reuters. He said the two sides had agreed the separatist forceswould not try to seize the palace, located in the predominantly residentialCrater district, while government forces would refrain from attacking them. Theseparatists also took over the house of Interior Minister Ahmed Al-Mayssariafter he was evacuated from his residence with the help of coalition forces,government officials said. Hadi is based in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
There was noimmediate comment from the Western-backed coalition led by Saudi Arabia thatintervened in Yemen after the Houthis ousted Hadi's government from power inthe capital Sanaa in late 2014. Alliance member the United Arab Emirates, whichhas armed and trained thousands of southern separatist fighters, earlier calledfor calm and for the two sides to focus on opposing the Houthis. ForeignMinister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed called on UN special envoy Martin Griffiths,who is trying to de-escalate tensions across Yemen, "to deploy efforts andexert pressure" to that purpose.
The NorwegianRefugee Council said the battles had trapped civilians in their homes withdwindling supplies of food and water. The aid group said prolonged fighting inAden, a gateway for commercial and aid supplies, could impact efforts to tacklethe humanitarian crisis gripping the rest of the country. UN Secretary-GeneralAntonio Guterres has urged the parties to end hostilities and engage in"inclusive dialogue".
The clashes beganon Wednesday after the separatists accused an Islamist party allied to Hadi ofcomplicity in a missile attack on a military parade in Aden, one of threeseparate attacks that targeted southern forces. The Houthis claimedresponsibility for the parade attack that killed a senior southern commander.Despite their alliance, the separatists and Hadi's government have rivalagendas for Yemen's future.